Jerry R. McGhee - Böcker

The National Institute of Dental Research sponsored a workshop on "Genetically Engineered Vaccines: Prospects for Oral Disease Prevention," held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on November 6-8, 1991. The purpose of the workshop was to convene molecular biologists and immunologists to address the state of the science in vaccine development and to explore the potential of developing vaccines for prevention of oral diseases. The goal was to elicit new research initiatives and recommendations for vaccine development with emphasis on the prevention of oral diseases and diseases affecting the orofacial tissues. The workshop was attended by more than 100 persons who heard 30 presentations, and the speakers provided the papers for this volume. The workshop focused on the following topics: oral diseases and host immune responses, update on vaccines and vaccine development, vaccines and the mucosal immune system, optimizing mucosal and systemic immune responses, delivery systems and immune analysis, target antigen selection and vaccine development, immunological correlates of protection and future direc­ tions/recommendations. Three key areas were identified: Optimizing the Mucosal Immune Response, Antigen Delivery Systems, and Target Antigens and Immunological Correlates of Protection. The summary and recommendations from these deliberations is included at the end of this volume.

Increasing interest in the immunology of mucosal surfaces is obvious from the number of publications in scientific journals and from the frequency of national and international symposia devoted to this subject. Particularly encouraging are the large numbers of young investigators who have chosen to work in this area of theoretical immunology with profound practical implications. The two volumes represented here are the result of an International Congress Of Mucosal Immunology held at the Niagara Falls Convention Center and the Niagara Falls Hilton on June 29 - July 3, 1986. This satellite meeting of the International Congress of Immunology placed emphasis on all aspects of the Mucosal Immune System. This included the regulation of differentiation of mucosal lymphocytes, mucosa-associated lymphoreticular tissue and lymphocyte homing, the immunology of mucosa­ associated tissues and glands, effector functions in mucosal immunity, and the effects of environmental antigens on the immune response, all of which are included in Volume I. The second volume has emphasized studies of the immune response and effector functions, IgA biosynthesis and transport, IgA proteases and effector functions, developmental aspects and immunodeficiency, the immunopathology of IgA and mucosal immunoprophylaxis. A total of 218 papers are included in these two volumes and a comparison to past meetings held at four to five year intervals indicates the explosive growth of mucosal immunology.